Beware of ChemDry's Claims

Limited Time Offer!!! Have you recently had your carpets cleaned by Chem-Dry and are not satisfied with their cleaning? If so, let us know. I will come out to your residence and perform a test clean on an area they have cleaned FREE of charge (I will clean up to 1 room for FREE.) I will show you how much cleaning solution is actually left in the carpet. You will need to provide a DATED INVOICE from Chem-Dry that is no longer than a month old to be eligible for this limited time offer. Any comments and questions can be reached at 672-9226 (This is my mobile, and I will not answer if I'm on the road, so please leave a message if I don't pickup. Thanks, Brandon Reilly)

After reading a recent advertisement from ChemDry in the local paper, I was floored by some of their claims. I know the Hot Water Extraction (HWE often referred to as "Steam Cleaning") is the preferred method to clean carpets and I'm sick of every ChemDry advertisement bashing HWE cleaners. I have never bashed ChemDry on their methods, but I refuse to sit back while they advertise these false claims to the public. So I've compiled some facts for you to ponder, along with sources to see for your self the truth behind their method.

#1: Hot Water Extraction is the only method that the carpet manufactures recommend. Don't you think that the makers of your carpet would know the most about how it should be cleaned. In some cases, if you have your carpets cleaned using ChemDry's rotary bonnet method, it will void your warrantee. That in it self should speak volumes about their method.

#2 ChemDry always claims to be "healthier". The system we use rinses and extracts all the cleaning agents and soil from the carpet. The only cleaning solution we use is in the pre-treat process. When we clean the carpet with our truckmount unit we only run a fiber rinse through the carpet wand. This ensures that all of the cleaning solution used during the pre-treatment process is removed along with all the soil that's in the carpet.

#3 ChemDry also claims to leave no "Sticky Residue". Because of our process explained above, we don't leave any residue. If ChemDry shows up to your house with a rotary bonnet machine, turn them away. This method relies on a pad attached to a scrubber that is rubbed on your carpet at high speed. The theory is that the dirt will magically be lifted onto the absorbent pad, but without any powerful extraction method, how well do you think this is really going to work? This method has actually been scientifically proven to cause damage to the carpet fibers.

Note: Over the past year I have been called out to jobs where Chemdry recently cleaned the carpet. The home owner's were not satisfied and Chemdry claimed that the carpets were clean and the carpets were worn. They refused to come back and look at the carpet. On two occasions there was so much soap & chemical left in the carpet that I had to do a rinse cycle first before putting any of our pre-treat down. My recovery tank for my machine actually filled up with foam from all the chemicals they left in the carpet. Below is a picture of one of the jobs that Chemdry supposedly did about a month before we did.

(You can clearly see where I have cleaned the edges in this photo and what the carpet should look like.)

#4 Fast Drying time is another one of ChemDry's claims. I am going to have to agree with that one, but I don't agree with their claim that by having your carpets "Steam Cleaned" that it will take days to dry. The average drying time for us is about 4-6 hours. Now we have had some jobs where the carpets were dry in as little as one hour, but some that take upwards of 12 hours. (Never more than 1 day. EVER.) You see, there are many factors that determine how quick the carpets dry. The more soiled the carpet is, the more cleaning solution and more rinsing we have to do. This in turn increases the drying time. If however, you keep up on your routine maintenance and don't allow the carpets to become very soiled, we don't need to use as much solution to clean them, thus the drying time is very short. (NOTE: If you set up a regular cleaning maintenance schedule, we do offer discounts.) There are also external factors that determine drying time such as: The homes humidity the day of the cleaning, the pile of the carpet, and whether or not you have fans to move air over the carpet.

#5 Their specials aren't that special. If you divide the price, by the amount of square footage cleaned you come up with the cost per square foot. Lets use their "Special" of $154 for 6 rooms. Read the fine print and see that these 6 rooms can't exceed a total of 700 sq/ft. Now using the maximum square footage of 700 sq/ft at $154, this comes to $.22 sq/ft. Now our cost varies from $.25-$.30 a sq/ft, but keep in mind, you need their coupon to get this deal, and with everything I just highlighted about ChemDry, it's not a deal at all.

I'm not saying ChemDry is the worst. I just want you, the consumer, to be aware and educated about the carpet cleaning process before making your decision. I do the best job possible at every job I go to and I hope I have provided some of you with the information needed before considering a carpet cleaning company.